First Impressions
by TheGreengrassSisters
Summary: A classic tale of two enemies drawn inexplicably together against their better judgement. A Dramione story based on the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice. Dramione. Draco x Hermione. Harry x Ginny.
1. Chapter 1

A/N- I ought to say before I begin, this is based entirely around the book Pride and Prejudice and I will endeavour to keep as faithful to the book as I can, however, because this is obviously set in the modern day wizarding world with characters we already know then I had to change a few minor details! Thank you, I hope you enjoy! DISCLAIMER – I am neither JK Rowling nor Jane Austen, sucks right.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. And it is a truth acknowledged by Hermione, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be stalked by her Mother. This truth, however, would soon become universally acknowledged if Jane Granger didn't stop talking about the arrival of a wealthy bachelor in town.

"Well, I don't think I've ever seen such a good looking young man," Hermione's mother said at the dinner table one evening, "Don't you agree, girls?"

Each of the five girls sitting around the table gave a hum of agreement, with varying levels of enthusiasm. It was Friday night which meant, much to Hermione's dismay, Lavender and Parvati were invited to Mayfield House to dine, a weekly tradition which dated back to last May where Hermione's mother met the pair at a War Anniversary Ball and became quite enamoured by their silly ways and gossipy nature. Also invited to their weekly meals was Ginny Weasley, who brought just enough sensibility to keep Hermione sane during the long hours of Friday night, and Hermione's cousin, Mary. Mary Granger was a quiet, studious girl who was just as intelligent as Hermione yet had the social skills of her cat; often sitting silently and glaring at the people she didn't like. She was staying with her aunt and uncle for the summer and, although a muggle herself, was fully aware of the world Hermione lived in, thus knowing that Harry Potter, the new wealthy bachelor in town who had just bought the grand estate Owlswick Manor, was really quite an attractive fellow.

"Yes he's a very handsome man," Reiterated Mrs Granger, "and so very charming!"

"Despite knowing him all these years, never have I heard you praise him for so long," Mr Granger said, "then again, you never knew he was quite so rich." Mr Granger shared an amused look with his daughter, who was drinking water in an effort to hide her laughter.

"Richard!" Mrs Granger cried, "How can you think me so shallow? Even if I did have his considerable fortune in mind it would only be because I want our one and only daughter to live comfortably!"

At this point Hermione found she had to intervene. "Mum, I'm not going to marry my best friend."

"But why not? He's so very fond of you, dear."

"In a purely platonic way, I assure you!"

With a hyperbolically heavy sigh, her mother conceded and instead spent the entirety of dessert attempting to convince the party what a lovely couple Lavender and Harry would make, with very little avail- apart from Lavender herself, who found 250,000 pounds a year (or 50,000 galleons) quite an attractive sum of money.

"I think, perhaps, Ginny and Harry would make quite a good couple," Said Mr Granger, sending a knowing look in Ginny's direction, who was rather pink.

"Nonsense!" Interrupted Mrs Granger, "I couldn't imagine anything stranger than marrying your brother's best friend."

"Yet marrying your best friend is quite alright?" Challenged Hermione. This provoked a glare from her mother. The subject was changed.

The last hour of the gathering was spent discussing the ball which was to take place the following day. The Grangers had attended four of these annual summer balls and were received rather differently by each family member; Mr Granger found them a bore, although mostly accepting of the wizarding world he found wizards themselves to be really quite bizarre and he certainly did not enjoy their passé attitude toward dental care, contrastingly Mrs Granger found that wizarding women and muggle women both had a mutual love for good old gossip and thus tended to have a marvellous time- she did still, however, endeavour to surround herself with women with excellent teeth. Hermione was a happy half-way between the two, enjoying the dancing and socialising in equal amounts to sitting alone in her room on a quiet evening.

"I don't like balls." Mary declared bluntly in the middle of the discussion, making her first contribution of the evening. The rest waited for a moment for some sort of elaboration but sat in a momentary awkward silence when Mary showed no sign of it by returning to her book. Lavender was the first to shrug off Mary's out of place comment and proceeded to talk at great lengths about her excitement for the ball, each comment echoed by both Parvati and Mrs Granger, leaving Ginny, Hermione and Mr Granger to share diverted looks at one another as they silently mocked the three silly women for the remainder of the evening.

The evening of the ball arrived quickly and Ginny was once more at Mayfield House to get ready with Hermione. In the privacy of Hermione's bedroom Ginny was free to express her true feelings and apprehensions about the night that awaited. Neither Ginny nor Hermione had seen Harry for two years. Not long after he and Ron had qualified as aurors the two were sent away on a 25 month mission in Scandinavian Europe to seek out death eaters who were suspected of fleeing there, they were allowed very little contact with home; in the two years Ginny and Hermione received only one letter addressed to them both written by both. Before the mission it was generally accepted that Ginny and Harry were dating, despite neither one putting a 'label' on their relationship, however, two years without contact is a long time and Ginny feared that the distance and the ambiguity of their relationship in the first place was enough for Harry to return to England with no feelings for her at all. Hermione tried ardently to reassure her that Harry would still be in love with her but, after having no effect whatsoever on Ginny, told her that even if Harry's feelings were lessened she could restore them tonight. This cheered Ginny greatly.

The ball was a grand affair, with witches and wizards from all over Buckinghamshire dressed in their finery and great chandeliers and decorations hanging from the ceiling of the grand town hall, the place was bustling with people and the music was only just audible over the sound of people talking and dancing. Hermione and Ginny entered together, just ahead of Mr and Mrs Granger, both were wearing floor length dresses, Hermione's black and Ginny's a beautiful emerald colour. They joined in on the festivities almost immediately, jovially dancing to the light music, thoroughly enjoying themselves. All of a sudden, the music stopped and every person in the room turned to the entrance where Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley stood. Harry had changed very little, his thick black hair falling just above his eyes which were still guarded by his geeky circle rimmed glasses, the way he immediately found Ginny in the crowd told Hermione all she needed to know about his feelings toward her friend. Ron was bigger; taller and more muscular, his hair was a darker shade of red and his skin paler, but behind his frankly more intimidating exterior Hermione could see the old, funny, cheerful, and brilliant Ronald. Hermione beamed at her two best friends and was about to make her way over to them before seeing they had company. Behind Ron stood a tall, slender woman wearing a pale pink dress with blonde hair cascading in loose curls down her back, the front held back in loose braids, she was holding his hand.

"Who's that?" She whispered to herself.

"Daphne Greengrass," said Lavender, who was standing nearby and had heard Hermione's comment. The name rang a bell and Hermione soon remembered her to be a girl from school, who she hadn't seen for years. She saw Ron laugh at something Daphne said and she was reassured it was a good match, Ron could never be with someone who couldn't make him laugh. On the other side of Daphne was a shorter woman who, although not in any way beautiful, looked the epitome of elegance, adorning deep sapphire robes with her black hair placed gracefully into a bun. The girl smirked slightly at something Daphne said and from that moment Hermione had no doubt of who she was- Pansy Parkinson. Which meant the tall, blonde gentleman behind her must be Pansy's own Lord and Master himself, Draco Malfoy. It would be a lie to call him anything else other than extremely handsome, although attractive as a teenager the years between them and now, at age 25, had chiselled away his boyish looks into the strong and refined looks of a man. He had neglected the hair gel, which Hermione reckoned a good decision, letting his hair falls naturally a little in front of his eyes in slight waves. Yet his eyes were still the same piercing silver colour. In no way did this stop her from renewing her dislike for him though, he unmoving look of disdain and the way his chin was up a little too high made his cockiness clear.

"Still as loathsome as a dog fart, I see," Hermione said to Ginny when she saw Malfoy look around the room as if someone had hung his underwear from the ceiling.

"Dog fart, creative," She replied. The two were suddenly pulled to the side by Mrs Granger.

"Girls, that's Harry Potter over there," She said, as if they hadn't worked it out. "Now next to him is Ronald Weas-"

"Yes, I think Ginny can recognise her own brother, mum." Hermione interrupted.

Ignoring her Mrs Granger continued, "He makes 45,000 galleons a year- what a catch!"

"Still my brother, Mrs Weasley."

"Yes, thank you Ginny, I was thinking more for Hermione, actually."

"Once again, he's my best friend and I'm pretty sure he's dating that blonde woman there." Hermione replied, coolly.

"Well, the best is yet to come my daughter," Mrs Granger continued, her voice now in a low whisper, "the gentleman behind them, and might I say he is really very handsome, makes 100,000 galleons a year and comes from a noble wizarding family called Malfoy."

"That's Draco Malfoy! My school bully, remember?"

"Was he the one who put that curse thing on your teeth?" Mrs Granger asked, frowning.

"Yes!"

"Then we are greatly indebted to him!" cried Mrs Granger, "You must admit, dear, you looked infinitely better with your new teeth."

Hermione, completely astounded by the ridiculousness of her mother, began to walk away but was stopped when Harry and Ron made their way over. She embraced them immediately, pulling the two of them quite forcefully into her arms, their faces engulfed in the curls of her hair muffling the sound of their happy greetings. When she finally let them go she was able to see their faces for the first time in over two years and she was pleased to see them looking just the same, except for a little scar marring Ron's chin.

"Finally, you caught up with the trademark scar thing," Hermione said light-heartedly, turning her wrist to show the white marks that had healed over what Bellatrix Lestrange had left behind. "We can finally release golden trio scar merchandise."

"Hermione, we've missed you! Turns out, Harry and I are pretty pathetic without you!" Ron said and then looked over at Harry to find he was completely preoccupied. "Still bloody in love with my sister, even after all this time."

Harry and Ginny were finding it rather hard to speak, fortunately Mrs Granger was there to do enough talking for the both of them- "Why don't you two go and have a little dance," She said, practically pushing Ginny into Harry, "A nice catch up, maybe you can tell Ginny what your annual salary is now, that'd be nice."

Hermione winced at her mother's lack of social boundaries but was soon remedied when she saw Daphne Greengrass walking over, she was desperate to hear this story. It turned out the story of how she and Ron got together was very dull, they met at a pub in Sweden and then dated. Hermione was, however, very pleased with Ron's choice, she was intelligent and gentle and seemed to adore her.

"I've heard so much about you, Hermione," she began, "Ron and Harry talk about how brilliant you are all the time, goodness I've wanted to talk to you for longer than I know! I desperately wanted to be your friend at school, but, my gosh, you were too cool!"

Hermione laughed at the idea of her being too cool to talk to, but thanked Daphne sincerely. "You were cool!" Daphne protested, "At least, I thought you were. I must say, however, that another reason I didn't think you would want to talk to me was because I was, and still am, a good friend of Draco's. I must try to convince you, Hermione, that Draco really isn't the evil villain you, understandably, think he is."

"I have to agree with that," added Ron, "Draco may have been a royal arse but he is honestly a tolerable royal arse. Both Harry and I would love it if you two could get along, I know he is very anxious to see you again."

Hermione nodded, quite unsure of what to say. Ron and Daphne quickly excused themselves to dance and Hermione was left alone and she happily watched her two best friends dance merrily for a good while until she was interrupted by her mother.

"My next aim is to track down Draco Malfoy," her mother said, her eyes prowling the hall. She caught sight of him at last and stared at him until he made eye contact, once he did she smiled in a manner which forced him, through means of civility, to go over.

"Hello Miss Granger," He said in a tone so solemn Hermione felt the urge to giggle, "I believe this is your mother? (Hermione nodded) Mrs Granger, a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh don't talk to me, I'm so old. Talk to my daughter, I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on after all these years! Maybe you and my _single_ daughter could dance?" Mrs Granger replied, all smiles and no tact.

"I don't dance," Draco replied, quite brusquely.

"Oh, I know you can!" Mrs Granger protested.

"Not a chance!" Harry chimed in, as he and Ginny were dancing nearby.

"It's not that I can't dance, Mrs Granger, it is just that I choose not to," stated Draco, shortly. "Please, do excuse me, I can see Miss Parkinson is standing alone and she will refuse to talk to me for a good month if I don't keep her company."

"What a rude man!" cried Mrs Granger, wholly and truly insulted, "It goes to show that not even 100,000 galleons a year can make someone so abhorrent amiable!"

Hermione, worried that Draco was still in earshot, tried in every way to shush her mother and once she had managed this challenge stated that she had to speak to someone and made her way over quickly her good friend, Luna Lovegood. She recounted the meeting with Draco to her behind a large column, making Luna laugh hysterically, both the girls thoroughly diverted by his unchanged nature. She hushed Luna, however, when she heard Draco's voice sound from the other side of the column.

"When can we leave?" He said, as he lay against the column, Hermione and Luna trying their best not to be seen by squeezing together and lying flat against the cylindrical stone.

"Not yet!" Harry's voice sounded, "Let your hair down a little, have a drink, have a dance!"

"You're dancing with the only pretty girl in the room."

"She is the most beautiful girl here, and perhaps everywhere, I grant you, but what about Hermione, you can't honestly tell me you think she's unattractive!"

"She is tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me. You might as well leave me, go back to your little Weasley, enjoy her smiles, you are wasting your time with me" And with that Draco walked away, leaving Hermione completely bemused on the other side of the column.

"Not handsome enough to tempt me!" Hermione mimicked, playfully, making light of the situation, "It's a good thing he doesn't like me, for otherwise I would have to talk to him!"

Thank you! Please follow, favourite and review- I thank you, TheGreengrassSisters


	2. Chapter 2

A\N Thank you so much for all your reviews, favourites and follows, they honestly made me unexplainably happy and I hope you enjoy this chapter too! Thank you!

Hermione spent the next hour telling everyone she came across about how she was merely 'tolerable' to the great and mighty Malfoy. She found people's reactions just as amusing as the comment itself, her mother's in particular.

"What a pompous little so and so," she said, "my daughter tolerable? Tolerable? She may not be quite as pretty as Ginny or as spirited as Lavender but she's certainly far better than tolerable!" The rant continued for quite a while, Hermione's highlights included her mother describing Draco's expression to resemble that of a 'menopausal goat'.

Hermione's father had also been quite displeased with the comment but was surprised, he had been hearing good things about Draco all evening. Hermione too had heard Draco complimented quite sincerely by some of her closest friends, it seemed strange to her that he could be friendly with Harry and Ron yet remain so cold toward her. She decided to shake it from her mind, however, and leave Draco to his own strange ways and go back to enjoying herself. She danced with both Harry and Ron before finding herself sitting at a table with the two and their respective partners at the side of the room, each of them tending to a cocktail or fire whiskey. For a while they talked of the boys' trip to Scandinavia before the sight of Draco dancing with Pansy caught their eyes.

"If you're only 'tolerable', Hermione, merlin knows what Draco thinks of Pansy." Said Ron as the group surveyed the couple dancing most awkwardly a few feet away.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Daphne continued after giving Ron a little slap on the arm for his rudeness, "Draco really does detest dancing, it's just that he detests saying no to Pansy more."

"I'm not particularly bothered, I didn't want to dance with him anymore than he did me." Hermione replied.

"Merlin knows how long that relationship will last!" Harry said, chuckling as he watched Draco and Pansy repeatedly step from side to side with her hands on his shoulder and his on her waist as if they were at a primary school disco.

"They're dating?" Ginny asked.

"No," Harry answered, "but I can't imagine Pansy letting him marry someone else."

Hermione observed the way Pansy was staring adoringly at his face whilst he vacantly looked anywhere else but hers. Yes, she would make him a fine wife- both equally unpleasant and both equally proud. She sat watching them dance for a while, whilst the others listened to Harry and Ron complain about Pansy, looking for any sign of admiration on Draco's side, for a moment she felt slightly sorry for Pansy as she knew what it was like to love someone and not have them love you back. However when Pansy gave her a smirk from across the room which clearly said 'ha-ha, he danced with me' she remembered she couldn't possibly feel sorry for someone so intolerable.

Meanwhile, Draco was not having a good time. Pansy's constant prattling was doing his head in and he had been wanting to leave for a good few hours now.

"The mudblood is staring at us, Draco," Pansy complained as she glared in Hermione's direction.

"Mudblood? Where are you living, the dark ages?" Draco replied dully, that word had fallen completely out of his idiolect after the war.

"Why do you think she's looking at us, Draco?" She said, ignoring his comment. "I reckon she's jealous."

"I seriously doubt she is."

"We're undoubtedly the best looking couple dancing." She continued, once more ignoring him. "She's probably jealous of me!"

"Again, I seriously doubt she is."

"I mean, why shouldn't she be? I'm everything she's not- rich, agreeable, and attractive."

"You are better than her in only one of those qualities, I will concede that you are indeed richer than her."

'Excuse me, you think she's attractive?" Pansy exclaimed, bemused.

Draco caught himself just in time and replied noncommittally, "She is not the beauty she is often described to be." He was in too foul a mood to argue with Pansy about the looks of Hermione Granger this evening.

"I quite agree," Pansy replied, having already forgotten his prior insult to her looks and personality, "she is often described to be some brunette goddess, but I personally think she's quite plain looking."

Draco nodded and excused himself, telling Pansy he needed the bathroom. He walked over to Hermione's table, however, but completely ignored her as he addressed Harry.

"May we return to Owlswick soon?" He asked, referring to Harry's newly bought estate just a few miles from the small town where the ball was being held.

"Mate, the party's only just begun!" Harry replied, glancing over at Ginny who already looked slightly worried at the notion of him leaving.

"I just have some business to look over before tomorrow, I can go alone." Harry felt he could not convince Draco to stay any longer so let the blonde apparate back of Owlswick Manor. To Hermione, the party seemed much pleasanter without him, especially since Pansy left only ten minutes after her prey had fled. The rest of the night filled Hermione's head with many happy memories which were recollected most animatedly with Ginny over tea on Monday evening when they both had returned from work. No sooner after they had just recounted all the times Ginny had danced with Harry that evening an owl flew onto the window ledge of The Burrow's kitchen where the two were talking.

"I think that's Harry's owl." Hermione said, remembering the gold and brown tones of Harry's new owl he had shown them a picture of last night, which he had named Rubeus- a tribute to the bravest man he had ever met, although Harry was slightly worried he now couldn't name his children after Hagrid seeing as he couldn't give his first born the same name as his pet. Anyway, Ginny took the letter from his beak and let him nibble at the biscuit on her plate whilst she briefly skimmed the letter's contents.

"It's from Pansy," she said and, after glancing up to Rubeus, added, "she borrowed Harry's owl."

"What does it say?" Asked Hermione.

"She wants me to go to Harry's house this weekend to have lunch with her and Daphne." She said, smiling.

"Rather you than me!" Hermione exclaimed, reading through the letter quickly. "Shame Harry won't be there." She said as she saw Pansy had written that the boys were spending the day with another Auror who lived nearby.

"It'll be nice to get to know Daphne, I can see whether Ron has made a good choice. And I'm sure Pansy can't be that bad!" She sounded doubtful.

"Perhaps she's not," Hermione's replied, equally apprehensively.

"I suppose it is nice of her to invite me," Ginny said, "I'll send her my acceptance." She quickly wrote a polite letter of acceptance and sent it away with Rubeus and a few knuts. The sound of the two girls chatting and giggling was enough to lure the ever curious Mrs Granger and Weasley into the kitchen, the two mothers drawn inexplicably to any form of gossip. They demanded to know what had passed immediately. After being told the details the two older woman launched into an unstoppable verbal frenzy, planning every second of Ginny's visit and quite forgetting to consult the girl herself, they schemed ways for Ginny to stay just a little longer so she could stay for Harry's return and effectively wrote a love sonnet for her to perform once he returned. To Hermione's amusement the faces of the two women were becoming increasing red whilst their eyes became increasingly wide as, through their excitement, they forgot to breathe. However, and rather unsurprisingly, it was more than Ginny could bear so with a triumphant clear-of-the-throat she succeeded in making the mother's temporarily hold their tongues and dimmed their excitement by stating, quite forcefully, that she was not to overstay her welcome. Though Molly was a little hurt by her daughter's abruptness she exaggerated this pain to use it to her advantage; she, although slightly shamefully, used the classic 'puppy-dog eyes' trick on her very own daughter. This worked rather well as Ginny, eager to beatify a mother who had done so much for her, conceded slightly.

"How about this," She began with a sigh, "I fly there tomorrow with no coat or jacket and, as there is torrential rain forecast, we hope Pansy and Daphne will let me stay until the storm has passed. Then, hopefully, Harry will return before I go."

"Won't she just suggest you apparate?" Hermione asked, with a frown.

"According to Ron, Daphne's sister was splinched once so she won't let anyone she knows apparate near her," Ginny replied. Both the mothers looked quite pleased with this idea and spent the rest of the day on Jane Granger's phone, refreshing the page that displayed the weather obsessively. Molly was quite bemused by the little square box of light, calling Arthur in from the garden so that he could have a look at the fascinating device.

The weather was all it promised to be. Ginny arrived at Owlswick House looking a wreck, her white shirt clung to her otherwise bare stomach and pink bra, which was now brazenly revealing itself to the world as her shirt had turned see-through. Her dark denim jeans hugged her legs, the wet denim making flying through the wind a little more uncomfortable that it ought have been and her ginger hair plastered to her face as if it were afraid of being blown away by the gale-force wind which was causing her broom to spin in any direction. However being a quidditch player for the Holyhead Harpies made her quite able to arrive safely at Owlswick. She climbed of her broom and knocked on the huge oak door of the beautiful Tudor manor house. Even in the wind and rain she could see that the house was grand and elegant, with latticed oak beams supporting the otherwise white walls which were decorated by climbing roses and ivy. It was large, but looked gracefully understated amongst the masses of green fields and gardens that surrounded it, not to mention the magnificent lake Ginny had just been able to make out whilst descending from the clouds into Harry Potter's estate. This didn't matter to Ginny, though, he could've lived in a roofless barn and she would've been just as proud to call it her home too. She didn't have time to ponder this warm thought too long as the great door was opened soon by Daphne Greengrass, accompanied with an excited smile. Daphne led her into a the dining hall, fussing over Ginny's wet hair and clothes in a charmingly motherly way, performing effortless drying spells and pulling her chair up by the fire in order to stop the slightly younger girl from catching a cold. She then began to ask Ginny several questions regarding Molly and the rest of the Weasleys, asking streams of questions about each family member and the best way to gain their approval. She was particularly nervous about meeting Percy, who Ron had often described as having the 'temperament of a pickle', however, after fearing Ginny was judging her for judging her brother so readily proceeded to talk at some length about how much she admired Percy for all his great work in the ministry. Ginny felt there was no need for Daphne to try to impress her; she liked her already. She was slightly more sceptical about the other female resident who had just presently entered.

"Hello, Miss Weasley," Pansy Parkinson said, civilly and with what Ginny temporarily thought to be a smile, until she came to her sense and remembered Pansy probably didn't have the physical capability to smile after not trying it for her 24 year long life. Ginny returned her greeting, however, with her own well-used grin. "I'm so glad you made it." Pansy continued and Ginny battled the urge to reply with a sardonic 'then tell your face that'. Despite Pansy's coldness, the luncheon passed pleasantly with Daphne providing most of the conversation, which pleased the other two girls immensely. Ginny felt she ought to make her move after the final course was served and looked out of the window, although not a big fan of her Mother's scheming she did feel a little pang of excitement when the brown and grey sky made it inevitable that Pansy and Daphne would allow her to stay until the storm had passed. Daphne offered her another beverage and led her into the drawing room where they commenced a spirited conversation about quidditch, of which Daphne was surprisingly a huge fan- although she was more of a Bristol Bats fan, much to Ginny's disgust. The time flew by and it wasn't long before their conversation was halted by the sound of the front door opening- Harry!

"Bloody hell," Ron's voice sounded from the hall, "Wish I'd taken my coat! Oh, hello Ginny."

Harry, who was taking off his boots, whizzed round to the sound of the youngest Weasley's name. "Ginny!" He said, completely shocked, "You're here." There was an awkward silence. Ron, Draco, Daphne, Pansy, Harry and Ginny all stood in the hallway, unsure of whose turn it was to speak.

"Draco, Ronald, you look rather damp, let Pansy and I dry you… Upstairs… Without Harry and Ginny… They'll be downstairs… Here… Alone…" Daphne said finally, with tact even worse than her taste in quidditch teams. The others walked upstairs, Draco frowning at Harry as he left, as if sending him a secret message. Harry ignored his pointed look and instead led Ginny happily back into the drawing room.

They emerged a few hours later. In this time Harry had invited her to stay the night and had invited Hermione to come tomorrow to stay for a couple of days. An owl had been sent to both Ginny's mother and the Granger's who all received the news with unmixed delight- a marriage was surely on the cards now.

A\N Thank you for reading! Please follow, favourite and review J


	3. Chapter 3

REUPLOADED - so sorry, I had to reupload this after a few people said they couldn't view it- sorry to everyone who has read it already. Thank you xx

By the next day the sun had replaced the storm. The dew which still clung to the tips of the green grass glinted in the morning light whilst the rising sun cast brilliant shadows of the cascading hills of Buckinghamshire upon the lush fields and meadows that lay below. The whole scene was far too tempting for Hermione not to make the most of. With a good book and a sturdy pair of shoes she set off early in order to walk to Owlswick House, where Harry had invited her for the day. She gave the letter Ginny had sent her the previous night with Rubeus, an owl she thought was aptly named due to it's fluffy dark brown tail which was reminiscent of the old Hogwarts gamekeepers beard, and she smiled as she read Ginny's happy recount of the previous day. Then, slipping the letter into a page in her book, she began reading 'One Thousand Charms to Master Before You Die', taking care not to step in the animal faeces which lay ominously all along the public footpath which led her almost directly to the edge of Harry's Estate- a path she had trodden many times before Harry had bought Owlswick House.

A little fence marked the boundaries between the public footpath and Harry's Estate, adorned with a white sign reading 'private land- do not enter'. The notice was not the only deterrent, however, as Hermione soon noticed the tell-tale signs of a protective enchantment- an almost invisible blue sheen which would go unnoticed to anyone not expecting to see it. The enchantment completely encased Harry's estate, being an Auror guaranteed Harry his fair share of enemies, warding off those who may wish him harm; Hermione passed through quite unscathed. After climbing over Harry's fence, landing quite inelegantly in a muddy puddle in the process, and walking a few hundred yards through the mass of emerald trees that bordered the manor she was able to see Owlswick House in it's full glory. It made her own quaint cottage look like a pig-sty. She had never seen such a beautiful house, and she bet it had a wonderful library too.

It took her longer than she expected to walk up the long driveway leading to the house. She knocked three times on the door then awaited an answer, surveying her dirtied jeans and boots as she did so. Daphne opened the door and looked delighted to see her, the mud on her jeans completely ignored.

"Hermione!" Said Daphne, beaming. "I'm so glad you could make it." Hermione was then ushered inside by the blonde whilst being offered a plethora of drinks and foods at such a pace she barely had time to answer before another option was offered to her. She quickly agreed to a 'Dragon Fruit and Tear Cocktail, shaken not stirred' whilst Daphne paused for air, so Daphne scurried off into the kitchen leaving Hermione by the living room door.

"You can come in," said a woman's voice Hermione instantly recognised as Pansy's, few others had a voice which so strongly resembled that of a mandrake's. The living room was large but modestly decorated, there were no lavishly embellished murals or marble statues commonly found in houses of a similar grandeur but a homely sofa and armchair gathered around a humble fireplace, on these chairs sat Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy.

"Salazar! Were you wading through marshes before you came here?" Pansy exclaimed, frowning at the state of Hermione's bottoms. Draco was frowning too, but said nothing.

"Just a fresh morning walk, Pansy," Hermione said sweetly, "I think it'd do you some good." She then, devilishly and purely out of self-indulgence in making Pansy feel even a little morsel of how she made her feel at school, added, "you do look a little sickly today." It was simple and effective; Pansy's high-horse rocked slightly. Draco smirked.

"You look quite sweaty from your walk, Miss Granger, perhaps you should sit down." Pansy retaliated, in a manner just as falsely sweet as Hermione's.

"I assure you I'm quite alright," Hermione replied, "I think I'll go and find Harry, if you don't mind."

Hermione didn't care in the slightest if they minded or not. She found Harry in the dining room, in deep conversation with Ginny, much to Hermione's delight. The two stopped and stood, however, to envelop Hermione in a hug before returning to their seat at the long table, offering Hermione her own seat next to Ginny too. Harry announced that lunch would be served in a matter of minutes once the rest of the party had congregated around the dining table. Much to Hermione's dismay this party included Pansy and Draco, the latter of whom decided to sit next to her- no doubt, Hermione predicted, to make more comments on how remarkably average she was.

He paid her a greater insult during lunch, however, by remaining completely silent. This was until Ron, who was also present for lunch (he rarely missed it), addressed him directly.

"Draco, you know a lot about women," Ron began, after Harry told a humorous anecdote about a drunk goblin in Sweden who tried to convince Harry she was a Veela, "are Veela as good as it gets?"

"Veela are, of course, very beautiful but it takes more than just looks to win me over." Replied Draco in a rather bored tone.

"Oh here we go," Harry said, exasperated, "here comes the Malfoy-Heir-Wife-Speech thing!"

"The what?" Ginny asked.

"A Malfoy heir must choose a wife who fits the criteria for the perfect woman." He began, but was interrupted by Hermione:

"'Perfect woman'? What if the heir is a woman? Or if you wanted to marry a man?"

"If I were a woman I would not be the heir. If I were gay I would not be the heir. In both cases the Malfoy fortune would go to my closest male relative." He said simply, as if he could see no fault in what he had just said.

"That's positively primeval!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I want to know what the 'perfect woman' is!" Ginny said. Hermione was surprised to see her overlook Malfoy's backwards views and wondered whether the wizarding world was perhaps a couple of decades behind in that kind of thing. It wouldn't surprise her, they still hadn't made the move from feather quills to biros. In any case, she decided she would have to start some sort of equality campaign in the near future, she put the offence in the back of her mind for the moment, though.

"She must be polite, kind, charming, elegant, well-read, intelligent," Draco said, he then gave Hermione a quick glance before completing his list, "and she must be pureblood."

"No wonder you haven't found your perfect woman yet!" Hermione replied, laughing slightly at his ridiculousness.

"I'm sure some exist." Protested Pansy, and it was clear from the tone of her voice and her expression that she was referring to herself and after seeing no reaction from Draco, added "perhaps the perfect woman is nearer than we think." The notion of Pansy supposing herself to be 'polite' and 'charming' caused both Ginny and Hermione to stifle their giggles by shoving a spoon full of soup into their mouths.

"I suppose you must think of yourself as the perfect man then, if you think you deserve the perfect woman." Hermione said, ignoring Pansy just as everyone else around the table seemed to be doing.

"Oh Malfoy definitely thinks he's the perfect man." Ron said in good-humour.

"I won't deny it." Draco replied, also in a good-humoured tone.

The subject was changed after this and Draco remained silent for the rest of the meal. Occasionally Hermione would catch him looking at her before darting his eyes away quickly. She found it a little disconcerting so was thoroughly relieved when Ginny offered to show her around the library.

"Did you see her jeans?" Pansy blurted out the minute she assume Hermione and Ginny were out of earshot.

"I think it's lovely that she walked here," Daphne kindly replied, "it's not the easiest house to get to, seeing as we can't use the floo! Not that that's your fault, Harry, that's the price you have to pay for being an Auror." The fireplace had been blocked off by Harry as another method to protect him from unwanted visitors.

"Well she should have found another way! It's just not acceptable to walk into somebody else's home looking like something the cat dragged in-"

"I really don't mind!" Harry broke in but was totally ignored by the outspoken girl on his right.

"And did you see her face! Redder than a Red Cap!" She continued, despite no one agreeing nor particularly caring.

"Red Caps are actually green," Draco said.

"Oh I don't know! Of course I didn't listen in Care of Magical Creatures, don't you know me at all, Draco?"

"Besides," Draco continued, "I thought the walk gave her face quite a nice rosy glow that made her look reasonably attractive." At words poetic Draco Malfoy was notoriously pathetic.

Pansy let out a wretched and strangled sound that the others supposed to be her laugh. "A troll can get a 'nice rosy glow', Draco, that doesn't make it attractive."

At this point both Ron and Harry launched into a full 'protect Hermione as all costs' tirade, which subsequently left Pansy in a silent sulk, much to the delight of the others. The rest of the day passed reasonably amiably, especially since Pansy excused herself to her room in order to sulk a little more. The rest of the party joined Ginny and Hermione in the library. The library was just as splendid as Hermione had envisioned over lunch whilst Ginny, Daphne and the boys talked about quidditch. Hermione, who worked in a small publishing house situated at the end of Diagon Alley, had seen her fair share of books but this was nothing compared to the endless supply of books presently in front of her. What puzzled her, however, was why Harry had so many books. He liked reading as much as your next twenty-something wizard, but no one with such a passé attitude could possibly justify creating such a vast, and no doubt expensive, collection. Harry, as if reading her mind, gave his explanation.

"It's a gift," he began, leaving Ginny and walking over to where Hermione stood, "I know it's a long walk from yours to my house so I thought I'd create an incentive for you to visit. I haven't seen you in two years so now that I'm back I'm going to make sure you can't leave." Hermione suddenly attacked Harry with a hug, throwing her arms so powerfully around his neck that he had to grab hold of a bookshelf to keep the two of them on their feet.

"You didn't need to build a library to make sure I'd come and visit you, you numpty!" Hermione said into his shoulder. "You're my best friend, Harry, and even if you live in a house with no books whatsoever I would still come and visit you!"

"I suppose I can get rid of the library then." Harry replied, smirking.

"No! No. That won't be necessary." Hermione said, despite knowing he was joking the notion of getting rid of books sent her into a mild state of panic. After hearing Harry's hearty laugh she removed her arms from his neck and thanked him again for such a wonderful gift.

"There is one thing you must promise me," Harry said, straightening his robes after the impromptu cuddle attack, "you must invite your mum around for dinner tomorrow, Ron and I were just saying how much we miss her."

Hermione could think of nothing worse than her mother embarrassing herself in front of two people as unforgiving as Miss Parkinson and Mr Malfoy. The thought of her thanking Draco for cursing her teeth in fourth year leading her to have them shrunk down to a more attractive size or trying to invite Pansy to their Friday night dinners with Parvati and Lavender was enough to make her want to crawl into a cell in Azkaban. And that wasn't the only problem, Draco and Pansy would undoubtedly treat her mother with the same contempt they treated her with, and she wasn't sure her mother would take it as well as she did herself. Jane Granger would not understand that the only reason they didn't like her was because she was a muggle, she would think it was because of her appearance, her manner, her clothes; the whole affair would wreak havoc on her nerves. There was nothing Hermione could do, however, but oblige to Harry's wish. After all, he did just build her the biggest library in existence which, as she just noticed, had a jacuzzi in the corner.

And so tomorrow Mrs Granger would meet Mr Malfoy and Miss Parkinson, even Professor Trelawney could have foreseen the great danger that awaited.

A/N - thank you to everyone who followed, reviewed, and favourited- please continue to do so, y'all truly make my day xx


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh Harry, I'm so glad that you and Ginny are finally together! I hope my Hermione shall soon find herself a worthy husband, she's been single for so long- I always tell her that if that Eloise Midgen can get herself a boyfriend then anyone can! I had rather hoped she would marry Ron, but it seems he's doing very well with you, Miss Greengrass, you are, indeed, very beautiful but I can't imagine you are half as bright as my Hermione. She gets it after me, you know, I'm a dentist, as is her Father who is also quite intelligent too, I suppose. What about you two, Miss Parkinson and Mr Malfoy, are you two together?" It had hardly been two minutes and Mrs Granger had already succeeded in making every person in the room feel embarrassed and awkward. This did, of course, exclude Pansy who was beaming at Mrs Granger for assuming she was Draco's girlfriend. Meanwhile, Ginny had turned as red as her hair and was staring into her bowl of soup in order to avoid looking at Harry, who was sitting opposite her, the two had yet to put a label on their relationship.

"No." Draco answered, quite bluntly, making Pansy pout.

"Poor girl!" Mrs Granger exclaimed. She patted Pansy's arm but looked quite offended when Pansy flinched and scowled slightly, she nonetheless continued, "You were always a little tempestuous, Mr Malfoy, as I remember." Her brown eyes bored into Draco's grey, making the latter feel strangely uncomfortable.

He recollected himself. "Excuse me?" He challenged, rather unsure how a woman who had never met him could make such a claim.

"You were always so horrible to my Hermione, I wasn't going to bring it up but I really think your behavior has called for it." Reprimanded Mrs Granger, shaping her mouth into an angry frown. Her daughter's mouth, however, had taken the form of a large O. Draco was completely taken aback- he didn't think he was behaving badly, Merlin, he'd only said one word so far and he had no intention of saying any more for a good while. His silence led Mrs Granger to continue, "I was rather hoping you had grown into a nice, eligible bachelor but, alas, you continue to insult my daughter. MY DAUGHTER IS MORE THAN JUST TOLERABLE!"

It was like having a real-life Howler in the room. Mrs Granger was glaring furiously at Draco, her shrill shouts still echoing in his ear, whilst she pointed at Hermione who sat next to her, wide eyed and terrified. Mrs Granger's demeanor changed very rapidly however, as she immediately started complimenting Harry on the soup. For the next two courses the rest of the party treated Mrs Granger like a jack-in-the-box, taking care not to wind her up and cowering away when they, or more likely, Draco, did. Hermione was wholly embarrassed by her Mother's behaviour. She couldn't fathom how someone could be so openly rude to another person's face, in front of some of his closest friends. She wanted terribly to apologise to Malfoy, which, by the bye, was a sensation she had never felt before, and she wanted terribly for her Mother to leave and never come back- this sensation was an old friend. Regrettably, her mother, per usual, not only overstayed her welcome but scarcely let her mouth stay closed unless it was to chew.

"You know what you should do, Harry dear," She said once she had swallowed a large spoonful of Eton Mess. Harry looked at her inquisitively as a signal for her to continue, "You should have a ball!" Hermione was worryingly close to banging her head on to the table in an attempt to block out her mother's brazenness.

"That's a brilliant idea!" Harry replied, his good nature blinding him from seeing fault in her forwardness.

"I think you should have it before the autumn-"

"Mother!" Hermione interrupted, exasperated, "Let's let Harry plan his own ball, shall we?" Hermione caught Draco stifle a little chuckle and immediately panicked again at how he, Daphne and Pansy must be judging her.

"It's okay, 'Mione," said Harry, smiling, "How about you choose the date, Mrs Granger?"

Mrs Granger was absolutely thrilled and then began to discuss the pros and cons of each individual day of September to Ginny, who was too nice not to listen. Hermione gave Harry a thankful smile who waved it off and then turned to talk with Draco. With something to preoccupy Mrs Granger's mind other than Draco or Harry and Ginny's relationship the rest of the evening passed uneventfully. No one was sad to see Mrs Granger leave in her car once the sun set.

Draco, Daphne, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Pansy, and Hermione then all retired to the drawing room to spend a bit of time relaxing before they finally went up to their rooms to sleep. Pansy, in an act of completely unexpected kindness, had set up a room for Hermione and had given her some overnight essentials. Hermione strongly suspected it was because Draco had asked Hermione if she was staying over and Pansy wanted to display herself to be useful and kind in an attempt to get Draco to see she was the perfect woman. Now, in the drawing room, everyone was sitting silently doing their own thing but Pansy, who couldn't be kept entertained by merely her own thoughts alone, decided to interrupt Draco who was writing a letter.

"Who are you writing to?" Pansy asked, placing herself in front of his desk bending so that if he were to look up he would be looking directly into her cleavage. Draco, well acquainted with her seduction methods, kept his eyes firmly on the paper.

"Teddy." He said shortly. Hermione, who momentarily looked shocked before remembering Teddy was Draco's second cousin, smiled over at Harry at the mention of his Godson's name.

"Oh Teddy! I adore Teddy! How old is he now, eighteen? Nineteen?" Pansy crooned.

"Seven."

"Oh do tell him how enamored I was by his cute little drawing, I shall keep it forever!" Pansy continued, sighing in between words just to make sure Draco knew how much she _loved_ Teddy. Hermione was quite sure, however, that Pansy didn't care in the slightest about him- Pansy didn't seem like the type of person who'd get on remarkably well with a sticky seven year old.

"I think I shall save that sentiment for the next letter," Draco replied, "It may take quite a bit of space to describe exactly how much you loved his picture. What was it of again, Pansy?" Ron sniggered; Daphne hit him on the arm.

"Oh, um, I think it was… um…" A sudden wave of coughs hit Pansy then, and she excused herself to get a glass of water. Ron and Harry rolled their eyes at each other; they both received a slap from their significant others. Pansy returned a moment later, completely composed and holding a glass of water. She put it on the coffee table before sitting herself next to Hermione.

"So Hermione, what are you doing now?" She asked, looking ready to criticize any answer she received.

"I work in a publishing house," replied Hermione.

"Fascinating." Pansy said, making no attempt to hide the sarcasm in her voice, "What about hobbies?"

"Well, reading, and I like… Well I suppose I like people-watching." Pansy looked disgusted.

"That's a bit creepy!" She reckoned.

"That's not what she means," Draco quipped, "she means she watches people and makes assumptions on their lives." Hermione sensed an element of distaste in his voice, no doubt he was thinking of the unprovoked attack launched on him by her mother earlier that evening.

"Well, it's not quite that judgmental!" Hermione defended herself; "I just find it fun to guess things about people."

"I do that too!" Interjected Daphne, ever-ready to defend those in need, "I like to guess what they're like or what they do for a living."

"Exactly!" Hermione beamed, once more marveling at Daphne's unwavering kindness.

"I would suggest, Miss Granger, that you do not make a judgment of me. I doubt it would shine either of us in the best light." Draco's commented. Draco was looking at Hermione with an unreadable expression but Hermione assumed it must be dislike and Hermione felt _guilty._ Though she had not voiced any of her assumptions of Draco she felt as though he must've known she still found him completely intolerable. Had she been behaving unjustly? Dismissing him as unchanged just because of one throwaway comment about her being only 'tolerable'. Harry and Ron obviously liked him, and their ability to judge a person was invariably accurate. The room sat in an uncomfortable silence as Hermione thought over this, the only sound coming from the scratching of Draco's quill across his parchment. Finally, Pansy broke the ice.

"Would you like to take a turn around the room, Miss Granger?" Hermione had no idea why Pansy wanted to walk around the room with her; it was a very odd proposal. She nonetheless accepted. Pansy grabbed her arm and wrapped it around her own as she led Hermione in a circle around the small drawing room. Every time she passed Ginny she would catch the ginger's eye and would have to spend the next few steps trying with all her might to suppress giggles. Ron and Harry, meanwhile, just gave her looks of pity. Whenever they passed Draco he would look up from his letter, give a small 'tut', roll his eyes, and then return to his parchment. Pansy's figure was elegant and she walked well but Draco, at whom it was all aimed, was still inflexibly studious.

"Care to join us, Draco?" Pansy asked after Draco tutted for the seventh time.

"I can imagine only two motives for you choosing to walk repeatedly around the room like a caged tiger, and I do not wish to interfere with either of those." Draco said, his eyes still fixated on his letter.

"What can he mean?" Pansy said to Hermione.

"The surest way of disappointing him would be to ask nothing about it." Hermione teased, smirking down at Draco as the pair passed his desk once more. Pansy, however, was incapable of disappointing Draco in any way so persevered in asking him what he meant.

"I have no objection in explaining them," He said, once Pansy let him speak, "you are either walking together because you have secret affairs you do not wish to share with the rest of us. Or, and I believe this to be the more likely motive, you are aware that your figures look best when you are walking. If the first, then please do continue to gossip the time away. But if it is the second, I can admire you much better if you stand over there." He pointed to the space directly in front of his desk.

"Merlin!" Pansy giggled at Draco's speech, "How shall we punish him for his cheek, Miss Granger?"

"Laugh at him." Hermione said and as Draco's expression darkened she knew she had hit a nerve.

"Oh, Draco is not to be laughed at." Pansy said seriously. Everyone had now turned their attention to what was happening to the north of the room, watching silently.

"Not to be laughed at! You must be terribly dull, then, if you refuse to be laughed at!" Cried Hermione.

"You misunderstand Pansy's meaning. I am not afraid of laughing, I just hate to be ridiculed." He said bluntly, wearing the dull, emotionless expression that was beginning to get on Hermione's nerves. "I have spent much of my life trying to eliminate the weaknesses which may have led people to ridicule me."

"Like pride and vanity?" Hermione tried, purposely juxtaposing his emotionless demeanor with a wide, teasing smile.

"Vanity is a weakness. But pride, in a situation where one is obviously superior, will always be a welcome friend." He replied.

"Poor Draco," Ron broke in then, in an attempt to disperse the uneasy feeling in the room, "I don't think he was quite ready for the thorough Hermione examination. What do you think, 'Mione, still the pompous ferret you knew him to be?" Ron grinned at Draco and Hermione.

"It seems Malfoy has made himself to be completely flawless." Hermione said in a light hearted but sarcastic tone.

"No. I'm not pretending for a moment that I have eradicated every flaw in my personality. I just hope that I have hidden them to a point where they are completely disguised to those, such as yourself, who do not know me. My temper, for one, I hope is completely unknown to you and Miss Weasley. I suppose you could call me resentful – my good opinion once lost is lost for ever." He said this last sentence with such an air of self-importance that Hermione couldn't help but scoff. Did he honestly believe his opinion was that important to her?

"I cannot laugh at _that_." Hermione said, "I suppose you are safe from me."

"There is also, I believe, a natural defect which cannot be hidden in everybody too, I suppose you have worked out what mine is."

"A propensity to hate everybody?" Hermione quipped.

"And yours," he replied with a smile, "is willfully to misunderstand them."

"Music!' Daphne then cried, completely terrified of any form of confrontation. She walked over to the piano and began to play a jaunty tune, leaving Hermione and Draco to glare at each other for the remainder of the evening.

A/N Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited- I am so overwhelmed with the response to this story! Thank you so so much xx


	5. Chapter 5

The dewy grass licked their legs as Ginny and Hermione began their walk back to Mayfield House the next morning, where Ginny would finally floo back to The Burrow after her extended stay with Harry. It was another sunny day, colder, however, the occasional leaf blowing from the still green trees signalling that autumn would soon be on its way. Despite not at all enjoying her stay at Owlswick House, Hermione took great joy in hearing Ginny express her content at the time they had spent.

"He just seems so different!" Sighed Ginny happily as she walked slowly behind Hermione, the slim path which weaved through the flowery meadow not quite wide enough to accommodate them both. "Calmer, gentler, happier."

"But still the same old Harry?" Hermione questioned.

"Of course! He's still the same baggy robe wearing eleven year old I had a crush on all those years ago, except… Happy." She smiled at the ground, turning slightly pink at her own soppiness.

"Except he now comes equipped with manly stubble." Hermione added. Unlike Harry's other best friend, Ron, Hermione was fully on board with the Ginny/Harry relationship train and was prepared to help it along in any way possible. "Have you used the 'L' word yet?"

At this Ginny turned from a girlish pink to a vibrant red. "He used it last night." She said, after some hesitation.

"And what did you say?" Inquired Hermione.

"I said I loved him too, of course! Merlin, Hermione, what did you think I was going to say; 'Thank you'?" Exclaimed Ginny.

"Goodness, I hope you two get married."

"Don't let mum hear you say that, Hermione, she was convinced he was going to propose when she came for dinner last night! Your mothers support is enough already, she doesn't need you to add fuel to her fire. I've only seen him twice since he went away, I don't think we'll be getting married for a long time yet." Hermione only laughed as Ginny light-heartedly ranted at her and laughed some more when Ginny, after a pause, added, "I love him, he's so pretty I want to cry."

The joyful conversation made the walk go by very quickly and soon they were at Hermione's house, Mrs Granger rushing out of the front door as soon as she saw them approach, demanding to be told exactly what had happened and whether Harry had any nice male friends for Hermione.

"Ginny. Harry. Marriage. Engagement. Molly. Now." Mrs Granger blurted out as she ran out of the cottage to the two girls, still wearing her apron and oven gloves.

"Mum, I think you dropped some verbs on the way out." Hermione said, her mother giving her a harsh glare in reply as she pulled Ginny inside the house. Ginny proceeded to tell Mrs Granger more or less everything about her time at Owlswick House (excepting the more _personal_ details), this was accompanied by a string of 'oohs' and 'aahhs' from Mrs Granger along with the occasional 'why can't you get a boyfriend, Hermione?' After keenly but patiently listening to Ginny's recount of the weekend, it was a very long time for Mrs Granger to listen without being able to stick her oar in, Mrs Granger began to tell Ginny how she should definitely expect a proposal at Harry's party which she had planned for first Saturday of October, which was twelve days away. And then, after becoming bored with Ginny's love life, she turned to her attentions to that of her daughters.

"Ginny, does Harry have any nice male friends Hermione could marry? Or female friends, this is no time to be homophobic."

"Mum!" Exclaimed Hermione, incredulously.

"Don't get emotional, we're not the Spanish." Mrs Granger snapped before turning to Ginny, who was trying her best to supress the laughter. "Does he have any cousins?"

"Well, I suppose Hermione could marry Dudley?" Ginny smirked at Hermione who was glaring right back at her. Both Hermione and Ginny had met Dudley at Harry's 21st birthday party four years ago, they were rather unimpressed. Mrs Granger wouldn't have cared if Dudley had worms for hair and a pig tail. "But I think he's engaged now." Ginny then added. Mrs Granger's face drooped and looked at Ginny as though she had disappointed her most severely.

"I suppose Henry will have to do then." She said nonchalantly as she stood up and proceeded to begin cooking dinner.

"Who's Henry?" Hermione asked, frowning at her Mother.

"Your second cousin." Mrs Granger said casually, chopping up peppers.

"Mum! I am not going to marry my cousin!" Hermione cried. Ginny, still trying with all her might to supress her laughter, made a very unattractive snorting noise.

"Second cousin, dear. My friend Elizabeth married her cousin and they are both quite happy." Defended Hermione's mother.

"Their son isn't!" Replied Hermione in a high, screechy voice.

"Henry Collins is a lovely man," Said Mrs Granger, deciding to thoroughly ignore her daughter, "I would've hoped for better but I worry he may be your last chance. He emailed your Father the other day and we have arranged for him to come round this Friday evening for a meal, along with Lavender and Parvati, and you're welcome to come too, Ginny, dear." The tone of finality in her voice stopped Hermione from replying with anything other than a deep sigh. Although Hermione knew she could probably get out of marrying her cousin (who marries their cousin nowadays? Who was she, some 19th century Jane Austen heroine being forced to marry her cousin so she could support her four sisters and parents with his income?) even she had to admit there was no way she was going to avoid an evening with a man whom she had no problem believing would be the epitome of dullness.

The evening rolled round too quickly for Hermione's liking. Mrs Granger had bought out the entirety of Tesco in an attempt to create the perfect meal for their guest, stating herself that she hadn't done that kind of a panic buy since Labour won the election in '97. At exactly 6pm a loud knock sounded from the front door, Lavender and Parvati let out an excited squeal as Hermione and her Father let him in. He seemed a very unimpressive man, average height with plain features and dull, lifeless hair. Although not unattractive he was the very definition of bland. He remained silent as he was led into the dining room by Mr Granger, speaking only to introduce himself to Parvati, Lavender, and Ginny.

"So, Mr Collins," Mr Granger began, trying to squeeze at least a little bit of personality out of the mundane muggle, "What do you do?"

"I'm currently studying Classics at Durham University." He said in a smug voice that made Draco look like an anxious little puppy.

"Very cultural!" Said Mrs Granger, "You like that kind of thing, don't you dear?" She gave a pointed look at her daughter, unsubtly darting her eyes between her and Henry.

"Oh, really?" He seemed utterly shocked that anyone else could have the mental capacity to fully comprehend the noble and intricate study of classical literature, especially a girl. "Tell me, from what play is this quote from…" He began a very dramatic performance of perhaps the most well-known quote on the planet- 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?' Everyone frowned at him, quite bemused at how he could honestly believe they would not know where it was from when half the title was in the bloody line he said. He mistook this bemusement for ignorance and tutted pompously. "I'm hardly surprised. Few are as cultured as I. You mustn't feel ashamed, you just represent the average person, I, however, have to suffer in this average world as a superior being. It is a cross I have to bear. Yet, I can wake up happily knowing I have more to bring to this world than most other normal people. As Shakespeare says, 'a fool may talk, but a wise man speaks'."

"Actually," Hermione said, "That was Ben Jonson."

Hermione's Father had never looked prouder.

"Oh, you are, indeed, quite right. Sometimes my mind is so busy with significant things I forget unimportant trivia." Henry replied, he gave a posh chortle but looked terribly affronted. He recollected himself quickly, plastering on his usual, self-adoring face. "I am quite the fan of Ben Jonson. His artistry has certainly made a lasting impression on English poetry and stage comedy. A quote I find particularly amusing, and I think it applies quite aptly to you, Mrs Granger, is 'a woman, the more curious she is about her face, is commonly more careless about her house.' Your house really is beyond description, Mrs Granger, it is uncommonly exquisite."

It was Mrs Granger's turn to look slighted. There were too things she was tremendously proud of in her life, her house and her face. To suggest she could only have one of the two was, to her, like having to choose between two puppies- totally cruel and unnecessary; she could quite easily have them both. Henry had already started prattling on about some other Jacobean playwright before Mrs Granger could protest. Which was a great sadness for she dearly loved to complain. Henry continued to utilise Shakespeare's most commonly known quotes throughout the evening, pondering 'to be or not to be' when offered potatoes and 'can one desire too much of a good thing' when offered carrots. He was possibly the most pretentious man any of them had ever met. Even Lavender's interruption to his discourse was a welcome break for party.

"Did you know the WA is training only a few miles from here?" She had said with a potato still lodged in her mouth. The WA merely stood for the Wizarding Army, and to most of the occupants of the table this was hardly the most exciting news to arrive at Mayfield House. Mrs Granger was an exception to this rule.

"Holy cricket!" She gasped. The thought of hundreds of eligible bachelors residing only a short drive away from her lonely daughter was too overwhelming for a Friday. She said no more for Henry was still a possible candidate for Hermione's affections, and, despite him being most disagreeable, he was single and thus good enough. Lavender and Parvati, however, continued to talk of the arrival for a good while.

Henry was bored so began to talk of himself at his next opportunity. "Did you know I am the patron of Narcissa Malfoy?"

This declaration, surprisingly, interested everyone. As he was a muggle completely unaware of his second cousins abilities, it was very bizarre that he was apparently so intimately acquainted with the Lady of Malfoy Manor. As an exceedingly arrogant creature, Henry fed off the mild interest everyone was displaying and raised his chin even higher and spoke in a voice passing even Percy Weasley's level of smug.

"She is an uncommonly accomplished woman. After the death of her husband, a most distinguished gentleman may I add, she bequeathed to me a humble estate in the dales of Yorkshire. It would make a more than adequate home to any young lady. Do you like Yorkshire, Miss Weasley?" He tossed his hair and then looked intensely at Ginny.

"No!" Cried Mrs Granger, immediately aware that his attentions were heading for the wrong girl. "She positively hates the North! In fact, she really likes Owlswick, which is most fortunate for she'll be moving there with her boyfriend quite soon! Hermione loves Yorkshire, though, she finds the constant raining rather… um… Poetic."

"I see…" Henry said, moving his eyes from the smirking ginger to her frowning friend. He spent the rest of the evening talking to Hermione, never ceasing to add in unneeded and extremely annoying quotes whenever he could. He was a truly ridiculous man and was the antagonist of Hermione's nightmares that night.

The next morning, in order to escape Henry, Hermione agreed to go with Lavender, Parvati, and Ginny to town to spy on the male WA soldiers. Lavender, having already dropped her pen in front of ten different men so that she could do the cliché 'look at my arse as I bend over unnecessarily seductively to pick up my pen' move, was busy talking to a group of khaki-clad males, Parvati also standing with them, silent but smiling widely and giggling at any opportunity.

"Hermione! Ginny!" Lavender called when she saw the two standing, most contentedly, alone. They begrudgingly walked over. "Remember Blaise Zabini?" She pointed a tall, dark, and handsome man. The two recognised him immediately. He had hardly changed, still remarkably handsome with chiselled features and warm eyes so dark they could almost be black. He greeted them warmly, calling them by their first names like they were old friend. Hermione noticed he gave her an extra smile.

"I'm surprised you remember us." Hermione said, making sure to return the smile.

"You were indescribably brilliant," Blaise replied, "I remember being completely astounded when I heard you brewed Polyjuice Potion in second year!" He gave her a look of pure admiration that made Hermione blush. Before she could reply, however, she heard Harry call her and Ginny's name from across the road. Hermione looked over to where he stood. He was with Draco who, most bizarrely, took one good look at Blaise, sneered, and then walked off. When she turned back to Blaise she was shocked to see him adorning a similar expression. She did not have the time to ask as Harry had quickly made his way over to the group.

"Blaise Zabini, isn't it?" He asked, stretching his arm out for Blaise to shake.

"Indeed it is. A pleasure to see you again, Mr Potter." Whatever disdain Draco had for Blaise had obviously not influenced Harry's own opinion; the two conversed most civilly.

"You should come to lunch with us." Blaise said to Harry, who shook his head in reply.

"Duty calls, I'm afraid, I'm just heading to London. Thank you, though." Harry replied. With a goodbye to everyone and a kiss for Ginny he re-joined Draco who was still looking cold on the other side of the road. As she was free for lunch, Hermione joined Blaise and his friends as well as Lavender, Ginny, and Parvati at the local pub- The King's Head. Blaise saved her a seat between him and his friend Thomas, much to the annoyance of Lavender who wanted to be near as many boys as possible.

"You're probably wondering," Blaise began as he shared a bowl of chips with Hermione, "Why Draco was sneering at me earlier."

"I am." Replied Hermione.

"How well do you know Draco?" He questioned, furrowing his brows.

"Not well at all, yet still more than I ever hoped to." She stated, causing Blaise to laugh.

"I feel you." He chortled before clearing his throat and talking in a huskier and quieter voice, egging her to lean in closer. "We were good friends at school, as I'm sure you were aware. My Mother and I remained neutral during the war and once it was over, and the death eaters lost, my Mother was attacked for not joining the Dark Lord's forces. She died. I was only eighteen and Lucius, who was excused from Azkaban because of his wife's bravery during the war, took me in. For four years he treated me as a son, loved me as a son. He was the nearest thing to a Father I ever had. When he died he left me one of his estates in Devonshire and recommended me to Ministry Officials, I was set to become a senior barrister at age 22. I hate to say it but Lucius loved me more that Draco and Draco couldn't stand it. He had always been a disappointment to his Father. I suppose that's why he did it… Because he was jealous. After Lucius' funeral Draco called in several of his friends at the Ministry to find loopholes in Lucius' will and then used these connections to discredit my name at the Ministry. He left me homeless with no job. That's why I joined the WA, it was all I could do."

Hermione was absolutely astounded. And completely and utterly furious. Never had she disliked Draco more than that moment. Throughout her life he had insulted her in every possible way but even she didn't think him capable of completely destroying someone's life and for such a fickle reason such as jealousy. She could not pity him for not being loved by his Father, for who could love someone so truly evil. The news had left her seriously discontented.

"Don't worry about me." Blaise said, as if reading her thoughts. "It was years ago, I just pity him now."

"Harry's having a party soon. I want you to come." At that moment the only way she could think to help him was to invite him to a party. "Draco will be there but, honestly, you being there should make him feel bad, which is my only desire at this current moment."

"Perhaps, perhaps." Blaise chuckled. This answer was good enough for her.

A/N Thank you all so much for your lovely, lovely reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please follow, review, and fave! Thank you again, sorry it took a little longer than usual to upload, I've just restarted school!


	6. Chapter 6

"I just don't believe it." Ginny protested when Hermione told her what Blaise had divulged about the relationship he held with Draco. After being separated for over a week due to work commitments, Hermione wasted no time in dragging Ginny into the privacy of her bedroom to share what Blaise had told her whilst they got ready for Harry's party which was to take place that same evening. She then proceeded to retell what she had heard in a concise manner, eager for Ginny's opinion on the whole affair. "I don't believe anyone could be that mean."

"Well, it is Malfoy, he came from a family of Death Eaters. He _was_ a Death Eater! I wouldn't put it past him. OW!" Hermione reminded Ginny as she tried to wrench a hairbrush through her thick brown mane. She gave up, in the end, and applied Sleekeazy's Hair Potion in an attempt to tame the wild beast.

"He's not a Death Eater anymore, Hermione." Stated Ginny, "He's obviously changed, Harry and Ron definitely seem to think so."

"That's true." Hermione conceded, before adding, "Although, Harry and Ron probably don't know. Draco probably didn't tell them."

"Why do you even believe Blaise?" Ginny questioned.

"I trust him more than I do Malfoy." Hermione stubbornly replied, avoiding Ginny's exasperated gaze by slowly and carefully applying mascara.

"Why?"

"Because Blaise didn't get mixed up with Dark Magic and didn't spend his whole childhood making people's lives difficult." Hermione pouted. She stared even more intently into the mirror, she knew she was annoying Ginny.

"You're blinded by an unjustified hatred!" Ginny exclaimed, "You need to let go of things that happened, like, ten years ago. Harry and Ron trust him so you should too."

Hermione decided that Ginny just didn't understand. Ginny didn't have to deal with Malfoy in the same way that she did; Ginny was pretty, popular, and pureblood whilst she was Draco's personal lucky dip of flaws which he took great pleasure in picking out. They sat in silence for a while, sometimes they would passively aggressively ask the other to pass them a hair pin or an earring. They were used to their little spats by now, it was quite a regular occurrence. Usually they would sit quietly until they got bored, then they would converse as if nothing had happened. Their contemptuous silence was broken this time, however, by Mrs Granger entering the room unannounced. By the looks of it, she had already enjoyed a fair few 'pre-drinks'.

"Mum!" Hermione cried, "We could've been getting changed, please knock!"

"Don't be silly. You're the fruit of my womb, I've seen all your bits and pieces." Mrs Granger replied, waving her left hands dismissively whilst the other was loosely gripping a class of red wine. "Now, Hermione, are you engaged yet?"

"Not since you asked this morning, no." Hermione said.

"One day." Mrs Granger sighed before sitting down right between Hermione and Ginny, wiggling her bottom a little to make room. "Now, I'm here to do 'Mummy's social training-"

"Oh, no, Mum. It's fine, honestly. I'm just going to be myself." Interrupted Hermione, budging to her left slightly to escape being in such close proximity to her Mother.

"Are you insane?" Mrs Granger cried. "All I ask is that you do not embarrass yourself and remember to do the posh laugh." Hermione grimaced. The posh laugh was a social skill her Mother had engrained into her head at a young age. It was basically an extremely posh laugh to the tune of a popular song, this song would change every so often and it was of the upmost importance that one was up to date with the laugh of the middle class.

"And what is the laugh this season?" Hermione asked.

"The song 'Barbie Girl', by Aqua. 'I'm a Barbie Girl'" She sang before laughing to the tune- 'Ha ha ha HA ha!'

"How do you even know that song?" Hermione asked.

"Your Father has a penchant for musical contraceptives." Mrs Granger said unashamedly, with a little giggle. Hermione winced as Ginny let out a great laugh. Mrs Granger, thankfully, then got up and headed for the door, telling the girls that they had ten minutes before they had to leave as she did.

The girls finished getting ready, with Ginny in a significantly improved mood. Hermione was rather satisfied with her appearance that evening. The taming hair tonic left her hair in loose curls, the front of which she had braided back to keep it from falling into her face- a look which had been inspired by Daphne's hair, which Hermione constantly marvelled at. She was wearing a strapless light blue dress, which was tight to her waist before flowing out to just below her mid-thigh. Hermione had decided to put in a little more effort than usual for two reasons. The first was simply to impress Blaise. Although she did not find herself with the usual symptoms of a crush at present, she could easily see herself learning to like the suave Blaise Zabini. The second was to look better than Pansy. She found Pansy annoying and thus she had decided to compete with her in every possible way, just to prove to herself that she was better than her. Pansy had no idea she was a competitor in this competition, of course, but Hermione enjoyed the game nonetheless. As she surveyed her finished appearance in the mirror she decided upon a third reason for the rare effort she had put in; to prove to Draco Malfoy she was certainly better than 'tolerable'.

Ginny and the Granger's arrived in good time to Owlswick House. A great few people were already milling around the great ballroom, holding glasses of firewhiskey as they conversed joyfully about the jovial music and the splendour of the house. Much to her dismay, Henry had already arrived and was standing alone in the corner of the room tending to a small glass of white wine. Much to her greater dismay, he made his way over to where she stood immediately.

"Hanging candle-lit chandeliers from what must be very thin thread is remarkably dangerous." Was his introductory line. Hermione, at first very confused, then realised he was referring to the enchanted chandeliers which were floating from the ceiling.

"Perhaps they're held up by magic." She teased, laughing when she saw Henry roll his eyes at her poor female mind.

"Magic is for those who are ignorant to science and reason," Henry drawled in a painfully patronising tone.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio." Henry had been living with the Grangers for over a week now, so Hermione knew that the only way to respond to his blatant misogyny was to perplex him by quoting Shakespeare. Then, he would go into a deep silence for at least five minutes as he contemplated how a female could possibly possess the brain to retain quotes of the great and almighty Bard.

"I wish to secure myself as your partner for the first dance of this evening." Henry said after his five minutes of contemplation ended. Hermione, who had just noticed her Mother leering only a metre behind them, begrudgingly agreed before walking off.

Meanwhile Pansy, whose dress made her look as if she had had a chiffon based anaphylactic shock, was once more clinging to the ever-scowling Draco. They were awkwardly dancing near to where Hermione stood, now with Luna Lovegood who was wearing what could only be described as an avalanche of purple velvet.

"Salazar! Miss Granger has definitely tried _too_ hard this evening. Don't you think, Draco?" Pansy commented, speaking loud enough so that she was certain Hermione could hear.

"No." Draco replied, bluntly but quietly, "I think she looks quite beautiful."

"Why don't you just go and dance with her, then?" Pansy snapped, dramatically pulling herself free from Draco whilst adorning a sickening pout.

"Okay." Draco said simply, walking toward Hermione, leaving Pansy quite flabbergasted. Hermione, who had only heard Pansy's first comment, was quite terrified to find Draco walking directly toward her. She was even more terrified when he asked her to dance.

"Yes." She said quickly before coming to her senses and immediately regretting her acceptance. Draco merely nodded before taking one of her hands to lead her onto the dance floor. His hand was cold, whilst hers was becoming uncomfortably clammy. Quickly, she snatched her hand away and rubbed it on her dress. Draco stopped directly in the middle of the ballroom, underneath the biggest chandelier. The light from it lit their faces a little too much, she had rather hoped he would choose a darker spot so she could pretend she was dancing with someone else. But, alas, she had to look directly into the fully illuminated face of Draco bloody Malfoy. Just as she thought things couldn't get any more intense, the music changed from a jolly fast-paced jaunt to a romantic slow ballad. This led Draco to place his hand on the small of her back and clasp the other around her own. Awkwardly, Hermione put her free hand on his firm shoulder and allowed Draco to pull her a little closer, their bodies barely inches away from touching. She sadly found there were very few places where her eyes could rest other than his own, making the whole dance painfully intimate.

"I assume you and Blaise are no longer friends," she said, if she had to be alone with Draco she would at least make the most of it and find out the truth of his relationship with Blaise. The way Draco's body stiffened at the mention of his name more or less confirmed Hermione's belief in Blaise's story. "You two seemed quite cold toward each other the other day."

"Blaise has a real talent for making friends. He's less good, however, at keeping them." Draco bluntly said, he tore his eyes away from Hermione. A sign she took for guilt.

"He was so unfortunate to lose your friendship." Retorted Hermione snidely. This was a comment Draco obviously did not take well, clenching his jaw he tightened his grip on her waist and led her more forcibly across the dance floor. This obviously did not have the desired effect for Hermione merely laughed at him and Draco, not one for being laughed at, glared at her but said nothing. "It is your turn to speak, Mr Malfoy. Or do you prefer to remain silent whilst you dance?"

"What would you like me to say?" He replied.

"Perhaps you could compliment the decorations? Or remark on the number of couples?"

"What's your opinion on books?" He said, smiling.

"Books?" Hermione questioned, "That's quite a vast topic. I doubt we read the same books, at least not with the same feeling."

"You seem certain that we are polar opposites, Hermione." Draco mused. It seemed inappropriately intimate to have him say her name for the first time. It was a voice she was so used to hearing jeers or insults from, and it was saying her voice softly, it was very strange.

"I don't believe that." Hermione quickly replied. She was unsure, however, whether that was true. "I cannot make out your character, Mr Malfoy. I hear such different accounts of you, it puzzles me exceedingly."

"I suggest you do not try to make out my character from what others have said about me, and make it out purely from how I treat you." Draco quipped, but not coldly.

"Then you do yourself no favour. Or perhaps you have forgotten how you treated me at school?"

"Quite right. I will make amends to my previous statement and say; make out my character from how I treat you now." She still despised Draco. She was certain he ruined an innocent man's life and was wholly unchanged from his younger self. Yet, she believed she could learn to somewhat respect him. He was intelligent and though their discourse may not always be pleasant it was never short of wit. The song ended and they both thanked the other before parting ways.

They had not long separated when Pansy came towards her, and with an expression of civil disdain thus confronted her: "So, Miss Granger, I hear you have become friends with Mr Zabini." Hermione nodded, leaving Pansy to continue. "Blaise may try to tell you how Draco did a great wrong to him, but this isn't true. I don't know the particulars, but I can certainly tell you it was Blaise who was in the wrong, not Draco."

"No offence, Miss Parkinson, but as you do not know the 'particulars', I am finding it very hard to believe your side of the story." Hermione said angrily.

"I beg your pardon," Pansy said sarcastically, turning away with a sneer, "I did not mean to interfere."

"Hermione!" Hermione winced as she heard the high squeal of her Mother from the other side of the room. A few heads turned to look as the woman waved frantically at her daughter. Although embarrassing, Hermione was silently impressed her Mother's voice could carry so far. Mrs Granger quickly shuffled across the room, her high heels in one hand and what looked like straight vodka in the other. Hermione knew her Mother well enough to know it certainly wasn't water. "Mr Collins is with Luna Lovegood, go and snatch him away before he changes his mind and decides to marry her!"

"I don't want to marry Henry!" Hermione cried, taking the drink away from her Mother as she saw her stumbling a bit.

"You're so difficult, darling." Mrs Granger sighed. Suddenly, she stood up on a chair and began crying: "Will someone please marry my daughter. I'm not asking for money, I'm literally giving her away." Great laughter sounded across the room as Hermione frantically pulled her Mother off of her soap box of a chair whilst simultaneously trying to hide her face so no one knew it was her Mother. From across the room she was relieved to see Ron, Daphne, Ginny and Harry all taking it in good humour. Draco and Pansy, who weren't standing too far away, looked thoroughly disgusted at the raucous behaviour.

"Mum, will you please be quiet." Hermione squealed, pulling her Mother out of the limelight.

"I just want the best for you, dear." Defended her Mother loudly, stroking her daughter's hair. "Why can't you be like Ginny and Harry? They're practically married already!" Draco obviously heard as he began eyeing Mrs Granger with great suspicion. As if things couldn't get any more humiliating, Hermione suddenly heard the voice of her cousin fill the room. Her nasally voice assaulting the ears of every guest. Why did Mary have to sing at every social occasion? She heard the equally shrill laugh of Pansy Parkinson and saw her pulling an affronted looking Draco Malfoy from the party. Hermione's Father, just as aware of his family's potential for humiliation as Hermione, warmly told Mary to stop singing and to allow some other young ladies a go. Mary did not take this well and ran from the room with a great sob. The room was silent for a while before the giggles of Parvati and Lavender flirting with the soldiers acted as the catalyst for communal conversation, thus ending Hermione's family's parade of embarrassing acts.

A/N Wahayyy thank you all for reading! Please follow, favourite and review- it will help me survive this year at school. Speaking of school, we've decided to do a Quidditch tournament and I'm the Captain for my House! I hope everyone has a nice week!


	7. Chapter 7

A persistent tapping at her window awoke Hermione the next morning. Pulling back her curtains, she saw an irritated looking grey owl perched upon her windowsill holding an envelope. It gave what Hermione considered to be quite a sarcastic squark of thanks as she opened the window to let it fly in, it immediately placed itself self-righteously upon the head of her bed and, with a holier-than-thou attitude, dropped the letter onto her pillow and tilted it's head as he waited for praise. Hermione went to stroke the bird but refrained as the owl slanted it's eyes before looking toward the remnants of cake left on a plate on her desk.

"Oh, you go ahead." Hermione whispered when the owl flew to the plate without waiting for her approval. She ignored the bad tempered bird and sat herself on her bed, deciphering the writing on the envelope in an attempt to work out the writer. It wasn't a hand she recognised. She immediately panicked and thought it would be some sort of declaration of love from Henry, but then remembered he was still staying at Mayfield House and even he would have common sense enough not to send a letter to someone who lived in the same house as him. Also, he probably didn't even believe owls were capable of delivering letters. Although he probably believes they're more capable than women, thought Hermione, remembering a painfully sexist comment he had made at breakfast yesterday when a female Postman delivered the post. Stopping herself from thinking any more about the ridiculousness of Henry Collins, she opened the letter and read it's contents:

Dear Hermione,

I must apologise for my absence last night. I was suddenly called away on business to Lancaster so was unable to attend what I'm sure was a brilliant party. I must admit, and I hope you will forgive me for being so fickle, that the inevitable presence of a certain blonde gentleman (perhaps 'gentleman' is too kind) did prohibit me from making too strong an objection to my going away. I shall return within the week so I hope we shall see each other soon.

Sending my love,

Blaise Zabini

P.S. Sorry about the owl, I lost a bet with a friend and ended up with the pillock.

Hermione was amazed to realise she had hardly noticed his absence. Despite anxiously thinking of him the whole day before, and dressing up particularly nicely just to impress him, once she had arrived at Owlswick House her mind had been so preoccupied with Draco Malfoy and the horrific behaviour of her family she barely had a moment to reflect upon his not being there. She was a little disappointed, now that she realised he had not made an appearance, that they didn't get to at least dance together, but thought he had made a mature decision by not going and thereby not causing an unwanted scene between he and Draco at Harry's.

She sat at her desk, shooing the owl away as she did, and quickly scrawled down a reply; a thank you for the letter and a wish that they should meet again soon. She gave it to the grumpy owl and shut the window firmly as soon as it's last feather left the room, hoping Blaise would send another owl if he replied. She was all for caring for creatures, but that bird was the animal embodiment of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Once she tied a dressing gown around her and put on her slippers she went downstairs to join her family and their entourage of guests for a spot of breakfast. By the quietness of the house and the smell of bacon and sausages, she quickly deduced that Lavender and Parvati were tending to a painful hangover. She was quite right. Sitting at the the long wooden table in the kitchen were the two girls, with their heads in their hands. Mrs Granger, who sat at the head of the table, was rubbing Lavender's back whilst stabbing at the black pudding on her plate. To her right sat Henry, his long nose pressed against The Express as he continuously shovelled cereal into his mouth, milk dripping down his chin illustrating his ineptness to do more than one thing at once. Mary, meanwhile, sat quietly next to him. Next to her sat Ginny, who looked extremely relieved to see Hermione.

"Good morning, Hermione!" Bellowed her Father, concealing a smile as Lavender and Parvati visibly winced. Hermione smiled brightly at her Father who was tending to some mushrooms and tomatoes at the stove. "Would you like some sausages?" He asked, again in an unnecessarily booming voice, earning him a glare from Mrs Granger. He feigned innocence before sending Hermione a cheeky smile.

"I'm quite alright thank you, Dad!" Hermione replied cheerfully, not to mention loudly. Mr Granger chuckled before turning back to his pan.

Hermione joined in on the quiet once she joined the table, opting only for toast and a bit of bacon as she allowed Ginny to eat her share of the rest, musing at the likeness of all the Weasleys when it came to food. No one spoke for the most of breakfast until the last toast had been nibbled, at this point Henry put his paper down, wiped his chin, and surreptitiously cleared his throat.

"I was wondering if I could speak to Miss Granger." He said.

"Yes?" Hermione replied, worrying at why he felt the need to ask permission to speak to her.

"Alone." Stated Henry. Hermione's Mother positively glowed, she immediately stood up and began ushering people out of the door, insisting on privacy for her daughter and Mr Collins. Hermione feared the worst and quickly grabbed onto her Fathers hand, begging him not to go for there would be nothing Henry could possibly say to her which he could not say in front of everyone else. Mr Granger just gave her a pitying look as he allowed his wife to forcefully drag him from the room.

Henry allowed a few seconds of silence before beginning a speech which brought on the worst five minutes of Hermione's life.

"Since I set foot in Mayfield House I have had you in mind to become my most intimate partner. I have singled you out to become my future wife as I believe you have qualities adequate enough to make me reasonably happy. But first let me state my reasons for marrying..."

"Mr Collins! We have barely known each other a month! You can't possibly be proposing!" Hermione began.

"I hope when you come to live with me you will see I have a house humble enough to make you just as content as I. My reasons for marrying are as follows: firstly, my patron Mrs Malfoy thinks I ought to marry." Hermione couldn't help but think Narcissa only wanted him to marry to get him off her back. "Secondly, I feel it shall add greatly to my happiness."

"Mr Collins, you are the last person on this earth who could make me happy and I am convinced I am the last person who could make you happy. So, I must reject your proposal!" Hermione exclaimed. Henry merely shook his head and pulled out a ring, getting down on one knee.

"Yes, your Mother warned me this might happen. I know that some girls like to reject the first proposal so they don't seem to keen. I like to beg for my dinner." He replied.

"Mr Collins, I am not your dinner! I am frankly appalled by your medieval portrayal of women! I assure you I am playing no game, I do not want to marry you!" Hermione ran from the kitchen into the hallway where the others were anxiously waiting, panicking she ran for the front door and sprinted up the garden before letting herself fall against a tree to put her head in her hands.

"Hermione!" Cried Mrs Granger, "so sorry Mr Collins, she won't reject you!"

"Oh it's alright." Conceded Henry, quite taken aback by such a headstrong girl, "perhaps we were no right for each other! To be or not to be, that is the question."

"Oh, to be, Mr Collins! Most certain to be!" Mrs Granger sobbed. "I shall go and talk to her, don't you worry Mr Collins!" Mrs Granger walked quickly to where her daughter sat, looking at her with the upmost disappointment.

"I can't marry him. I can't." Hermione croaked, wiping her tears to look up pleadingly at her Mother.

"Hermione! You might never get such an advantageous proposal again!"

"I don't want to marry for 'advantage'!" Cried Hermione.

"Oh, oh, oh! Mr Granger!" Called Mrs Granger, waving at her husband to come over. "Hermione will not take Henry and now Henry may not take Hermione! Tell her, Mr Granger, tell her she must marry Mr Collins or I shall never speak to her again!"

"It seems from this day on you shall have to be a stranger to one of your parents." Mr Granger said slowly," your Mother says she will not speak to you again if you do not marry Mr Collins. I say I will not speak to you again if you do."

"Mr Granger!" Squealed Mrs Granger. Meanwhile, Hermione leapt up and engulfed her Father in a massive hug, sobbing a 'thank you' into his shoulder. She ran back into the house, leaving her Mother to bicker with (or rather just rant to) her Father. Mr Collins had apparently gone by the time she reentered the house, she hoped she would never have to see him again. The house was silent. Yet after a moment upon entering she saw the girls sitting on the staircase, wearing unreadable expressions.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked. Ginny lifted a letter from her lap and shook her head. Hermione walked over and took it from her, quickly skimming the words. With a frown she handed it back. "That doesn't make sense." She began.

"It makes sense to me." Ginny sighed, her eyes shining from what would soon turn to tears.

"Don't cry." Said Mary, "We're British, sober, and nobody is going to prison."

"Brilliant. Thank you, Mary." Lavender said sarcastically, causing Parvati to giggle before Hermione shot the both a warning look at which point they shut up.

"He's probably just gone for a quick visit!" Hermione sighed. The letter, from Pansy, was written quite bluntly to inform Ginny that she, Harry, and the rest of the party were to return to London tomorrow morning, and they were unsure of when they would return.

"I doubt we'd get a letter if they were just going up for the day." Said Ginny, fingering the letter in her hands. "I knew he didn't feel the same anymore."

"No. Do not give up hope. They'll probably be back next week. Pansy probably wrote it in a rush and forgot to say when they'd return." Hermione couldn't even convince herself. It seemed from strange to her that Harry could just leave with very little warning the day after his own party. Perhaps Draco convinced them all the leave after seeing that Blaise wasn't going to? She wouldn't put it past him. He must be ashamed of all the bereft he caused.

She was just going to have to investigate. She told Ginny to write a letter to her brother, and hope for a quick reply. Until then there was very little she could do in regards to solving this mystery.

A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter is comparatively so short! School has turned up the pressure, which is just fantastic! Thank y'all for reading! Please review, follow and favourite! Have a good few days!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Soooooooo, it's been a while…. Sorry….. I also have to apologise as this is going to be quite a short chapter….. Sorry…. Basically, there needed to be a chapter which marks the transition between the different parts of the story so this is what this is. I hope to have a full length chapter out in the next week (or year, you never really know with me). Hope you enjoy it anyway! Thanks for the support! xx**

"Luna, that is absolutely insane!" Luna Lovegood, a girl who has never failed to surprise, had officially crossed the line in her newest declaration. For years she had been telling Hermione of the dangers of wrackspurts and the healing properties of radish juice but she had never confessed something as truly barmy as this. She was engaged to Henry Collins. Luna Lovegood, intelligent and pure, was to marry the human embodiment of a rotting carrot.

"He's quite nice, actually." Luna said with a faint smile, "Besides, I'm not like you Hermione, I don't mind not marrying for love. Father is a little unwell and I can't burden him any longer. Henry has a good life and I know he'll make sure I'll have one too."

"But he's a pig!" Hermione protested.

"He's a little closed-minded, but I'm sure that once he learns about magic he'll be willing to open up his mind to a whole number of different things!" She spoke with a genuine optimism which gave Hermione hope that Luna's prediction may turn to reality. If anyone could make people less ignorant it was Luna, she'd helped Hermione so perhaps she was ready to undertake a greater challenge. Luna had brought with her a letter from Henry which offered his most sincere thanks for the Granger's hospitality and about two more pages of pretentious drivel. Hermione did not envy Luna at all.

This was not the case for Mrs Granger, however. After hearing about the new engagement she swore never to speak to the Lovegoods again for stealing Hermione's betrothed away from them- although Hermione doubted Xenophilius would be particularly upset by this arrangement. With yet another bachelor off the market, Mrs Granger upped the ante in her endeavour to find Hermione a husband so turned to the dark, dark world of the internet.

"I have downloaded a rather charming application onto my phone, dear." Said Mrs Granger once she had shooed Luna out of the house.

The use of the word 'charming' was slightly worrying. "Yes?" Hermione chanced.

"Have you heard of Tinder?" Hermione's worst fears were confirmed. Mrs Granger brought up the app on her phone and showed Hermione her profile.

"Mum, that's a picture of you." Hermione said, taking the phone in her hands as she flicked through the profile her Mother had made for her.

"I know, but I didn't have any pictures of you and I look fantastic in that photo. You can change it if you want. We're already talking to a few people on there, they all seem very nice and are _very_ eager to meet you. Also, I think it's quite widely used by wizards as a lot of the young gentlemen were asking if you wanted to know their wand size." Mrs Granger said proudly.

"Oh, Merlin." Hermione exhaled. "What did you say?"

"Well, it was quite strange, I said that I did want to know and then I gave them your measurements in return. They seemed quite confused by that. I'm not quite sure if I fully understand wizarding culture quite yet. Anyway, as I said, there's a few nice gentlemen on there, and you'll be pleased to know that I have found that boy Lavender was talking about so fondly- Blaise Zabini!"

"You found Blaise Zabini on Tinder?" Asked Hermione incredulously.

"I did indeed. You may have gone to Hogwarts but this here is the real magic." Mrs Granger had never looked more content with herself and left Hermione alone in the kitchen wearing a rather smug grin. She reappeared a few seconds later, "Hermione, what does ASL mean?"

Hermione paused. "Magic thing." She replied. She was quite relieved when a gentle tapping at the window ended their conversation. Recognising it as Ginny's owl, Hermione immediately opened the window to take the letter from its beak. She opened it without delay:

'Hermione,

After all these weeks I have finally received a reply from Ron. You should find it attached.

' _Gin,_

 _Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. We've all been very busy working on a new case for the ministry so we've got to stay in London for a bit. Pansy and Daph really like it here and Draco and Harry agree it's better for work. Miss you lots, wish we could've stayed, sorry for leaving so suddenly. Also don't tell Mum but I've grown a beard, Daphne hates it but Harry and Draco say it looks really cool so I think I'm going to keep it._

 _See you when I can,_

 _Ron'_

And then I got a similar one from Pansy a few hours later, which I have also attached.

' _Ginny,_

 _I am writing to follow up on your letter a few weeks ago. I'm sorry I did not reply before but we've all been dreadfully busy with moving into our new houses and the boys have been no help at all and have been spending most of their waking hours watching the Quidditch Premier League. I'm afraid that we shan't be visiting Owlswick for a good while but I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Years in your little village. I shall be quite envious of you living in peace and quiet whilst Draco and Harry drag me along to all their ministry parties, I need hardly tell you!_

 _Hope to see you soon,_

 _Pansy Parkinson'_

Don't you think that's strange? Why would Ron say they've been working hard on a case when Pansy says they've been doing practically nothing? It doesn't make sense, something strange is going on. And why would neither of them mention Harry? It was no secret that there was something between us. Unless I've been completely delusional.

Please write soon,

Ginny xx'

The letter perplexed Hermione greatly and she could answer none of the questions Ginny had proposed. What she did know, however, was that Harry Potter was, and indeed had always been, in love with Ginny Weasley and that she should not give up hope.

 **A/N: thank you for reading, new (long) chapter soon! Pls review, follow and fave xxx**


	9. IMPORTANT: STORY MOVING

**SUMMARY: This story has been improved and will be moving to the account** SuperiorityIsKey, **this story will be deleted on this account in a week. xx**

 **DETAIL:**

Hi guys! I'm so so sorry but I've decided to move this story onto a different account! My new account is called **SuperiorityIsKey** and over the next few weeks I'll be posting **a new and improved version** of this story :) Much of the dialogue will be similar, and the characterisation and story will be exactly the same so there's no need to re-read the chapters that were originally posted on this story again, although I would recommend it as there will be lots of new fun bits and it'll generally be better edited and written! The first chapter has already been posted on my new story so it'd be beyond happy if you could go over there and re-follow (obviously only if you want to!). In case you are wondering as to why I've decided to be so annoying and swap accounts the two main reasons are:

\- This is the account I was using when I was in my early teens and there are a few stories which even if I do get round to finishing one day it won't be for a good while and a few people have been asking that now I'm back on ff whether I'll be updating them (particularly the future project). In regards to them, I do have a plan for both my unfinished stories but am not sure as to when I'll have the time/will to finish them ;).

\- Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite books and I couldn't help but feel I was butchering them by retelling it in such a haphazard way, the new chapters which will be on my new account have had a lot more time put into them and will, hopefully, be beta-ed very soon!

Thank you guys for reading, I'm having such a good time writing this fic so I really hope some of you will make the trip to the new and foreign lands of my new and scarily-named account xx lots of love, TheGreengrassSisters


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